And so, like it or not, you already have a personal brand. And a business brand.

And it’s based on anything that people can find about you online, including the content you share.

So you have a choice: nurture it yourself or let it be dictated for you.

Branded links help you take control of your own brand awareness and recognition.

What is a Branded Link?

A branded link is simply a short link – a shorter version of a URL you want to share online (especially on services like Twitter with very strict character limits) -built around a brand name or related term.

Unlike generic shortened links (like buff.ly or goo.gl), brands these days prefer to use a link that incorporates their name, associating themselves with the content they share, reinforcing brand awareness and increasing their brand recognition.

A Branded Links is Made Up of 3 Elements

Domain: Your Unique Brand Name e.g. MrPencil

TLD: What you do, or one that feels right for your Online Sharing e.g. news, link, pizza

URL Slug: Your Unique Keyword/s that tell people more about what you are sharing with them e.g. scoop

By customizing each of these 3 elements, you create your own unique branded links.

But Why Shorten Links in the First Place?

You probably think link shortening is about… well, shortened links. And while the length of a link is important, it turns out there are a few more important reasons to shorten your links these days:

Tracking – being able to attribute clicks and marketing efforts of various campaigns.

Inserting UTM parameters – This helps with link tracking, but inserting UTM parameters makes a link long and ugly. A link shortener allows you to hide, or mask, your parameters behind the new shorter version.

So, you have to create short links, but using a generic URL shortener weakens your brand…

Enter Branded Links

The solution to this problem is simple – create a branded short link.

I’ve already shown you examples of various brands using them to share content and information: Pepsi, Virgin and others.

But there are plenty more:

New York TimesMindShareSamsungStarbucks

Why Branded Shortlinks are so Useful

A shortlink gives you more space for including content in social media posts and helps to drive brand recognition and awareness.

But there are other benefits of using branded links too:

They provide a strong quality signal about the content you share. Aligning the content you share with your brand will help send a strong signal that the information you point your audience to is of high quality. This in turn will help establish your authority and brand recognition:

Users whom the content has helped will most likely remember who recommended it and associate your brand with helpfulness.

Your brand on a link will also make any content you share more visible and thus, build much better recognition and authority status.

Lastly, users will begin to associate your branded link with quality, a perception that will transpire to your brand as well.

Branded links can even help SEO. If you’re concerned with your organic rankings, I have some good news for you: Shortened links do not hurt your SEO. As Matt Cutts says in this video, “Shortened links still pass anchor text and the page rank. Now, that’s as long as the link uses 301 redirect, which most of them do. But since shortened links get shared more often, there is an added SEO benefit from this greater exposure.”

Watch the whole explanation by Matt here:

Where Can You Get a Branded Link Shortener?

Honestly, we’ve created the best platform for purchasing and connecting a branded link shortener. I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. Check it out..

It should be shorter than the one you already have, but still make it clear who’s behind it. Here are some examples how other brands have done it:

Pepsi – pep.si

NYTimes – nyti.ms

Starbucks – sbux.co

Next, you need to connect it with a proper URL shortening service like Rebrandly.

Rebrandly allows you to register a domain directly from your account. To do so, simply type in your selected short name and Rebrandly will suggest all available domains:

Third, you need to register the domain. Once you select your branded shortlink domain, register it and…. you can start using it to post links to the web almost instantly. Rebrandly gives you a browser extension making the sharing process a breeze: And, that’s it.

What do you think?

Do you see yourself using a branded short link? Do you think it’s something for you? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Founder at Rebrandly and CEO at ClickMeter, he has more than 15 years of experience in Internet business as entrepreneur and top consultant. He is the author of many articles regarding Internet and new technologies